In 2015, Hayley Kiyoko released \u201cGirls Like Girls,\u201d an electropop song meant to represent young queer women. It became a breakout hit, an LGBTQ+ anthem, and a public coming-out for the former Disney Channel and Nickelodeon star, who later expanded the story into a best-selling young adult novel. The heartfelt coming-of-age drama makes the leap to the big screen, with terrific performances by Maya da Costa and Myra Molloy as the two young girls at the heart of the sapphic love story, who learn to navigate insecurity and awkwardness on the path to self-acceptance.<\/p>\n
Kiyoko, making her feature directorial debut, adapts her novel alongside co-writer Stefanie Scott. The two starred together in \u201cInsidious: Chapter 3\u201d and \u201cJem and the Holograms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Set in the summer of 2006, the nostalgic story takes us back to the days of AOL Instant Messenger and bulky computer monitors, when AIM was the primary chat platform for teens. Coley (Maya da Costa) is the \u201cnew girl in town,\u201d a grieving 17-year-old who, after her mother\u2019s tragic death, is forced to relocate to rural Oregon to live with her estranged father, Curtis (Zach Braff).<\/p>\n
The living arrangement is less than ideal for Coley, who was abandoned by her father at age three. She feels that if Curtis truly wanted to be in her life, he would have tried before being forced to care for her. Braff\u2019s low-key performance is one of the film\u2019s highlights. The comedic actor and director, who, in real life, was enjoying the success of his film \u201cGarden State\u201d during the timeline of Kiyoko\u2019s story, doesn\u2019t portray Curtis as an overly apologetic, guilt-ridden father. Instead, it\u2019s a sensitive, supportive performance as the musician and jewelry maker lets Coley vent, giving her plenty of space while always ready to lend a hand. Before you judge the character too harshly, a reveal will put everything into perspective.<\/p>\n
The majority of \u201cGirls\u201d takes place outdoors\u2014Kelowna, British Columbia, stands in for sun-drenched Oregon\u2014which makes the film a visual treat for audiences. Bathed in natural light, Sonja Tsypin\u2019s gorgeous cinematography features a few stunning overhead drone shots, scenes of the girls riding bikes down rural roads, teens hanging out at the local swimming hole and park, and, of course, an occasional backyard swimming pool.<\/p>\n
After riding her bike in the summer heat, Coley stops by a local diner to cool off. In walks popular girl Sonya (Myra Molloy) and her teenage friends, including her obnoxious boyfriend, Trenton (Levon Hawke). The two girls lock eyes. Sonya flirts, inviting Coley into their inner circle\u2014the start of a friendship.<\/p>\n
Kiyoko doesn\u2019t rush the love story. We get that Coley is interested in Sonya without the need for an LGBTQ+ backstory. Her facial expressions and actions (always reaching out to Sonya on AIM) indicate she\u2019s interested in more than just a friendship. It\u2019s a terrific performance by da Costa, who exhibits a wide range of emotions as she deals with grief, resentment, and the excitement that comes with a new crush.<\/p>\n
Molloy, who originally auditioned for the role of Coley, makes the perfect Sonya. Good casting call, Kiyoko. The actor and musical-theater prodigy exudes serious it-girl vibes. Her vibrant energy and dominance within the group make for a credible popular girl\u2014she shares DNA with Regina George. But Sonya is more nuanced than the \u201cMean Girls\u201d character. She uses her confidence as a shield against the growing feelings she has for Coley.<\/p>\n
Sonya is the most complex character in the film. One minute, she\u2019s initiating a kiss with Coley; the next, she\u2019s pushing her away. She is a victim of \u201cComp-het\u201d (compulsory heterosexuality), the societal pressure that forces her to keep pressing the heterosexual-by-default button despite her natural feelings for Coley.<\/p>\n
Inspired by Hayley Kiyoko\u2019s own life and first crush, \u201cGirls Like Girls\u201d feels authentic as it explores the awkwardness, insecurity, excitement, and honesty of an individual\u2019s journey of self-discovery toward realizing they are gay. On the surface, it also works very well as a budding romance story that signals \u201cheartbreak ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the 2006 setting, the story is timeless. However, I enjoyed the era’s nostalgia, from AIM to books of burned CDs, and songs by Imogen Heap and Tegan and Sara, to the sidekick culture that thrives within a sapphic support system.<\/p>\n
As a bonus, there’s a remix of the original title song, plus new tracks by Hayley Kiyoko and a soundtrack featuring Young Miko, Chelsea Cutler, and Gigi Perez.<\/p>\n
(3 \u00bd stars)<\/p>\n
Now showing in theaters<\/p>\n
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/06\/25\/girls-like-girls-review-maya-da-costa-and-myra-molloy-are-terrific-in-the-queer-coming-of-age-drama-based-on-hayley-kiyokos-hit-song-and-best-selling-novel\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n
<img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=631444&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/06\/25\/girls-like-girls-review-maya-da-costa-and-myra-molloy-are-terrific-in-the-queer-coming-of-age-drama-based-on-hayley-kiyokos-hit-song-and-best-selling-novel\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Joe Friar, Fort Worth Report June 25, 2026 In 2015, Hayley Kiyoko released \u201cGirls Like Girls,\u201d an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117,7986],"class_list":["post-350963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}